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Rumple
Joined: 19 Sep 2007
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 Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:41 pm Post subject: CNN: Young Americans Going Abroad to Teach |
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http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/03/20/teaching.abroad/index.html
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(CNN) -- When David Green, 22, graduated from Western Washington University in December, he applied for dozens of jobs, from fast food to secretarial positions -- sending out more than 50 resumes and scoring only two interviews in the process.
It was horrible. I couldn't find anything," said Green, a history and social studies major.
With few employment options in his hometown of Bellingham, Washington, Green applied to teach English in a South Korean middle school through Reach to Teach, an organization that assists college graduates with finding teaching positions in Asia. Green, who counts trips to Canada as his only experience abroad, will be leaving for Seoul on March 20 for one year.
"I am scared. I've only had one major breakdown so far, ... but I'm really excited about being on my own ... somewhere completely new where I know absolutely no one," he said.
Like Green, many recent college graduates are searching for alternatives to jumping into the job market in the face of the recession. An increasing number of young Americans are searching out paid positions teaching English in countries like South Korea, Japan, China and Spain as a means to expand their horizons and weather the economic doldrums.
Mitch Gordon, director of school relations for Reach to Teach, said his organization has seen more than a 100 percent increase in applications in the last six months, with 3,784 applicants compared to 1,488 during the same six-month period last year. The application system doesn't track U.S. applicants separately, but Gordon estimates more than 70 percent are from the United States.
The program also has seen a significant increase in current teachers extending their teaching contracts abroad for an extra year.
Gordon said he believes the recession is the primary reason for the steady increase in applicants, and the increase has made the program more competitive.
"We have more people for the same number of positions," he said. "We're able to raise our standards a little bit more."
Japan's JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program also has recorded a jump in applicants. For 2009 positions, the Japanese government-sponsored program has received 15 percent more U.S. applications than last year, according to program coordinator Joelle Williams.
The program attributes the jump in part to the economic situation and the tough job market in the United States. JET officials also noticed that more applications arrived farther in advance of the deadline this year.
'Taking control of my own life'
Ayana Hosten, a spring 2008 graduate of Claremont McKenna College, has been working as an English teaching assistant in Madrid, Spain, since February through a program organized by the Ministry of Education of Spain. Her contract is ending in June and she is already looking to extend her stay for another year.
Spain's Ministry of Education has announced more than 1,200 openings for U.S. and Canadian "cultural ambassadors" for the 2009-2010 school year. Grants provide the teaching assistants with about $900 a month for the eight-month stay. Teachers are responsible for their own lodging and transportation costs, and applicants should have a functional knowledge of Spanish.
For Hosten, 22, going to Spain was a way to escape a rough job market that left her without a full-time job between graduating and applying for the teaching program.
"After being unemployed for three months, it really started to affect me emotionally, which was something I was not prepared for," Hosten said in an e-mail. "Going to Spain was me taking control of my own life and pretty much just wiping my hands of the financial crisis."
Travis Lee, a University of Tennessee alumnus who is in a teaching program sponsored by a university in Wuhan, China, began teaching English in September 2008, originally intending to stay for one year.
"Now I'm thinking of extending my stay for another semester or full year, and if I really like it and can't find a job in America, who knows?" Lee said in an e-mail.
He said the economy and the tight job market have been a big influence in his consideration to stay in China.
Trying another path
For many recent graduates, working abroad is becoming a more secure option than searching for a job in the United States. Most teaching programs in other countries will provide teachers with a salary and health insurance, and some programs in Asia will even provide free housing, said Jake Hanin, a teach abroad program coordinator for the Council on International Education Exchange, who also has noticed an increase in applications.
For programs in Asia, fluency in English is usually the most important qualification for teaching jobs, and many do not require applicants to have previous teaching experience, Hanin said.
Lee's salary in China is approximately $555 per month, which he says is more than enough to live comfortably in Wuhan. The university also provides him with a rent-free apartment and pays his electric bill.
"We make twice what a Chinese teacher with a bachelor's makes and we do half the work," Lee said in an e-mail.
But for Lee and many other recent graduates, working abroad is primarily about having once-in-a-lifetime experiences in a completely different culture.
"You have plenty of time to get a career, start a family, and follow that path," Lee said. "Why not try another path first? What have you got to lose?"
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harlowethrombey
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 4:52 am Post subject: |
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THe problem with America is that its full of Americans.
And by that I mean not enough people get to experience other cultures. A lot of people bring up the American attitude that the people there think their country is 'number 1'. (well, it is, USA! USA! USA! 
My opinion is that the root cause for Americans not being more culturally sensitve is that they simply dont travel to other countries. A lot of people look down their nose at that, which is fine, until you pull your head out of your arse.
If you live in England and you want to experience French culture you can drive your car there. If you live in Korea and want to go to Japan its a 4 hour flight. Many places in America require a 12 hour drive just to get to the ocean, much less a different country (with your only choices being Canada and Mexico). So, yeah, not a lot of people want to or can fork over 2,000 dollars to take a quick trip to Amsterdam or zip into Bangkok for New Years.
With that said and defended, I do think it is vitally important to expand and open your mind and travel is pretty much the best way to do it. I'd be thrilled if the idea of a 'gap year' really caught on back home. Imagine if Sarah Palin had been 'one of those kids whose parents buy them a ticket and say 'go travel'? She might actually have an opinion worth a damn. |
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hagwonnewbie
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Location: Asia
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:22 am Post subject: |
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| harlowethrombey wrote: |
| Imagine if Sarah Palin had been 'one of those kids whose parents buy them a ticket and say 'go travel'? She might actually have an opinion worth a damn. |
It probably would have required a lot more than that. |
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Robot_Teacher
Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Robotting Around the World
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:33 am Post subject: |
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I agree harlowethrombey, but the right reason to come over teach is you have an intrinsic need to take a look abroad and experience other cultures; not simply, becuase you're desperately unemployed. I waited 4 years after college graduation to come to Korea as I simply did not know about the opportunity until I stumbled upon Daves by accident from seeing a JET Japan ad on a career site. I'm prior service US Army which turned me onto traveling Europe in a 3 year stint there. As a teen, I dreamed about going to Japan as Nintendo, robotics, Beyond 2000 TV show, and early computers inspired me to go global. I dreamed about being this international business man trading high tech hardware like computers and robots between Asia and the West. This is late 1980's/early 90's just when it was a ground level career opportunity for those positioned to get in. I wish I had majored in engineering, but I honestly thought I didn't have the brains. How silly is that? Very modestly silly. And today, my favorite bar buddy chats in Korea are with German, Canadian, and American engineer guys. Despite growing up in rural Midwest USA, once in a blue moon, a guest would visit the elementary school classroom. I remember the New Zealander, the German, the Panamanian, and the African. They'd show us pictures, currency, and answer our questions. They inspired me to think and look further afield past local yokels who don't know their head from a hole the ground.
I studied international business in college, but found no companies hiring for anything, but only low paying computerized cubical accounting, retail sales, and telemarketing so I worked in a corporate Unix cube for $8/hour doing Mercedes Benz Financial accounts, sold mens clothes at Dillards, sold mortgages, and telemarketed BS scams in boilers room offices. There are hardly no real opportunities as what jobs you can get, it's boiler room ops where the managers are hostile, threatening, and intimidating and offer no real career track. They don't' care about people any more in today's companies like they once did back when they groomed graduates for long term careers in a single company for a career track.
Grandpa started out at McDonnell Douglas in the 50's as a aircraft welder and worked there all his life after WW2 which allowed him a house, enough to raise a family, and more than enough money to retire on. To bad mom blew it doctor shopping and taking drugs.
My brother is working in one of the last unionized factories in the USA. Con Agra Foods. Most of their plants are not unionized, but he works in the original plant which still is. Best thing ever happened as he just got paid $140,000 for breaking his leg on the job last Summer, healed, and gets to keep his job paying $22 an hour with full benefits. He's a high school drop out and always did labor jobs. That is a real classic American job. We need more of those in all the trades; not junk $8/hour temporary jobs offering next to nothing.
Regardless of country, most people don't get to study and travel, because they just work and fall into raising kids on a modest income. I do know Europeans get more thinking outside the box education and international travels. They get 6 weeks a year off paid by law and have job security. Also, college is paid for and then they get paid unemployment to take a gap year or three. If you got to Thailand, your fellow tourists are mostly Western Europeans dissappointed you don't speak Deutsch, French, or Italian, but most speak English although it's extra work for them. Most of them speak about 5 languages while Americans speak 1 language, except Hispanics and other foreigners who stay to themselves speaking their own lingo.
Most American do dream of travel, getting more education, and achieving more, but they just don't have the means. It's not that they're all lazy, it's they're living under an incompetent country system. Thank you for reading my response. |
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curlyhoward
Joined: 03 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| Robot_Teacher wrote: |
I agree harlowethrombey, but the right reason to come over teach is you have an intrinsic need to take a look abroad and experience other cultures; not simply, becuase you're desperately unemployed. I waited 4 years after college graduation to come to Korea as I simply did not know about the opportunity until I stumbled upon Daves by accident from seeing a JET Japan ad on a career site. I'm prior service US Army which turned me onto traveling Europe in a 3 year stint there. As a teen, I dreamed about going to Japan as Nintendo, robotics, Beyond 2000 TV show, and early computers inspired me to go global. I dreamed about being this international business man trading high tech hardware like computers and robots between Asia and the West. This is late 1980's/early 90's just when it was a ground level career opportunity for those positioned to get in. I wish I had majored in engineering, but I honestly thought I didn't have the brains. How silly is that? Very modestly silly. And today, my favorite bar buddy chats in Korea are with German, Canadian, and American engineer guys. Despite growing up in rural Midwest USA, once in a blue moon, a guest would visit the elementary school classroom. I remember the New Zealander, the German, the Panamanian, and the African. They'd show us pictures, currency, and answer our questions. They inspired me to think and look further afield past local yokels who don't know their head from a hole the ground.
I studied international business in college, but found no companies hiring for anything, but only low paying computerized cubical accounting, retail sales, and telemarketing so I worked in a corporate Unix cube for $8/hour doing Mercedes Benz Financial accounts, sold mens clothes at Dillards, sold mortgages, and telemarketed BS scams in boilers room offices. There are hardly no real opportunities as what jobs you can get, it's boiler room ops where the managers are hostile, threatening, and intimidating and offer no real career track. They don't' care about people any more in today's companies like they once did back when they groomed graduates for long term careers in a single company for a career track.
Grandpa started out at McDonnell Douglas in the 50's as a aircraft welder and worked there all his life after WW2 which allowed him a house, enough to raise a family, and more than enough money to retire on. To bad mom blew it doctor shopping and taking drugs.
My brother is working in one of the last unionized factories in the USA. Con Agra Foods. Most of their plants are not unionized, but he works in the original plant which still is. Best thing ever happened as he just got paid $140,000 for breaking his leg on the job last Summer, healed, and gets to keep his job paying $22 an hour with full benefits. He's a high school drop out and always did labor jobs. That is a real classic American job. We need more of those in all the trades; not junk $8/hour temporary jobs offering next to nothing.
Regardless of country, most people don't get to study and travel, because they just work and fall into raising kids on a modest income. I do know Europeans get more thinking outside the box education and international travels. They get 6 weeks a year off paid by law and have job security. Also, college is paid for and then they get paid unemployment to take a gap year or three. If you got to Thailand, your fellow tourists are mostly Western Europeans dissappointed you don't speak Deutsch, French, or Italian, but most speak English although it's extra work for them. Most of them speak about 5 languages while Americans speak 1 language, except Hispanics and other foreigners who stay to themselves speaking their own lingo.
Most American do dream of travel, getting more education, and achieving more, but they just don't have the means. It's not that they're all lazy, it's they're living under an incompetent country system. Thank you for reading my response. |
This is a good overall rundown of the situation. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:20 am Post subject: |
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| curlyhoward wrote: |
| Robot_Teacher wrote: |
I agree harlowethrombey, but the right reason to come over teach is you have an intrinsic need to take a look abroad and experience other cultures; not simply, becuase you're desperately unemployed. I waited 4 years after college graduation to come to Korea as I simply did not know about the opportunity until I stumbled upon Daves by accident from seeing a JET Japan ad on a career site. I'm prior service US Army which turned me onto traveling Europe in a 3 year stint there. As a teen, I dreamed about going to Japan as Nintendo, robotics, Beyond 2000 TV show, and early computers inspired me to go global. I dreamed about being this international business man trading high tech hardware like computers and robots between Asia and the West. This is late 1980's/early 90's just when it was a ground level career opportunity for those positioned to get in. I wish I had majored in engineering, but I honestly thought I didn't have the brains. How silly is that? Very modestly silly. And today, my favorite bar buddy chats in Korea are with German, Canadian, and American engineer guys. Despite growing up in rural Midwest USA, once in a blue moon, a guest would visit the elementary school classroom. I remember the New Zealander, the German, the Panamanian, and the African. They'd show us pictures, currency, and answer our questions. They inspired me to think and look further afield past local yokels who don't know their head from a hole the ground.
I studied international business in college, but found no companies hiring for anything, but only low paying computerized cubical accounting, retail sales, and telemarketing so I worked in a corporate Unix cube for $8/hour doing Mercedes Benz Financial accounts, sold mens clothes at Dillards, sold mortgages, and telemarketed BS scams in boilers room offices. There are hardly no real opportunities as what jobs you can get, it's boiler room ops where the managers are hostile, threatening, and intimidating and offer no real career track. They don't' care about people any more in today's companies like they once did back when they groomed graduates for long term careers in a single company for a career track.
Grandpa started out at McDonnell Douglas in the 50's as a aircraft welder and worked there all his life after WW2 which allowed him a house, enough to raise a family, and more than enough money to retire on. To bad mom blew it doctor shopping and taking drugs.
My brother is working in one of the last unionized factories in the USA. Con Agra Foods. Most of their plants are not unionized, but he works in the original plant which still is. Best thing ever happened as he just got paid $140,000 for breaking his leg on the job last Summer, healed, and gets to keep his job paying $22 an hour with full benefits. He's a high school drop out and always did labor jobs. That is a real classic American job. We need more of those in all the trades; not junk $8/hour temporary jobs offering next to nothing.
Regardless of country, most people don't get to study and travel, because they just work and fall into raising kids on a modest income. I do know Europeans get more thinking outside the box education and international travels. They get 6 weeks a year off paid by law and have job security. Also, college is paid for and then they get paid unemployment to take a gap year or three. If you got to Thailand, your fellow tourists are mostly Western Europeans dissappointed you don't speak Deutsch, French, or Italian, but most speak English although it's extra work for them. Most of them speak about 5 languages while Americans speak 1 language, except Hispanics and other foreigners who stay to themselves speaking their own lingo.
Most American do dream of travel, getting more education, and achieving more, but they just don't have the means. It's not that they're all lazy, it's they're living under an incompetent country system. Thank you for reading my response. |
This is a good overall rundown of the situation. |
I second that! |
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